York hazmat incident sends two trash workers to hospital: Two inhaled fumes while collecting rubbish in York

By Crystal Weyers

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Click image to enlarge

Weyers/Democrat photo
Firefighters work from a York Fire Department Emergency Services Unit.

YORK, Maine — Trash day went awry when a combination of pool chemicals, acid, and road dust reducer were thrown to the curb, resulting in a toxic cloud that led to a serious hazardous materials situation and sent two Waste Management workers to the emergency room.

A combination of aqua bromine, muriatic acid and calcium chloride flakes were discarded in a trash bag by residents at 21 Carrie Lynn Lane on Friday morning. The toxic combination of chemicals were picked up by Waste Management, who noticed the bag was emanating a chemical cloud while picking up trash a few houses down at 29 Carrie Lynn Lane, according to York Fire Chief Chris Balentine.

The workers removed the bag from the rear hopper of the waste truck, placed it on the side of the road and alerted the York Police Department to a possible hazmat situation at approximately 9:10 a.m.

Once on scene, the workers were treated for exposure by being decontaminated with a water flush and then rushed by ambulance to the York Hospital emergency room, where they received oxygen treatment. Balentine said they had inhaled some of the fumes and were experiencing slight difficulty breathing.

Click image to enlarge

Weyers/Democrat photo
Police blocked off a 150-foot radius from the home where the contaminated trash was originally picked up on Carrie Lynn Lane in York.

The two workers were later released after the oxygen treatments.

“If they had left that in the truck it would have been a lot more material contaminated and a much larger scene,” said Balentine of the workers, whom he said acted very alertly by removing the smoking trash bag.

An area of the neighborhood was taped off in a 150-foot radius, as the material could be explosive, according to Officer Luke Ernenwein of the York Police Department, who helped secure the area off Southside Road.

Approximately 20 minutes after the first alert, the York Fire Department called a third alarm to bring additional emergency and medical personnel to the scene to assist in dealing with the hazmat threat. Fire departments from York Beach, Kittery, Eliot and Ogunquit assisted.

“We assembled a HAZMAT Entry Team with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's HAZMAT Team, York Fire and Police Departments and several other mutual aid towns were brought in for man power,” said Balentine.

The hazmat team separated the remaining materials in the bag(s) and the calcium chloride flakes were contained.

Click image to enlarge

Weyers/Democrat photo
The York Fire Department had a decontamination shelter on site, but the incident was not large enough to require using it, according to Chief Chris Balentine.

“Once the material was separated, we stopped the off-gassing situation,” said Balentine. The dangerous mix had been emanating a chemical cloud that was traveling in a northerly direction. “We were concerned about contamination for the neighbors and the environment.”

Balentine said many homeowners had already left for work, but those who were home in the effected area of the neighborhood were evacuated.

Jennifer Clark rushed to the home of her mother at 26 Carrie Lynn Lane around 10:15 a.m. after receiving a call from her brother that everyone was evacuating. She was concerned for her two dogs, Maggie and Dunkin, who were still in the home. After crossing through the police line, officers escorted her to the home so she could take the dogs from the scene.

“They're fine, just super hyper,” said Clark, who also said she didn't smell anything in the air.

An hour and a half after the initial call, fire crews could be seen packing up and Balentine reported the situation had been mitigated.

“We're now awaiting the arrival of DEP. They'll do a site assessment and once that happens we'll be able to open the roads,” he said.

Balentine said those at 21 Carrie Lynn Lane are new homeowners and the chemicals may have been left by the previous owner in a storage area.

He said aqua bromine is a chemical used to clean pools, calcium chloride flakes are used to reduce dust from dirt roads and muriatic acid is often used by masons to clean and prepare brick.

Sgt. Steven Spofford of the York Police said the incident is still under investigation as to whether the residents will face any penalty or charge for placing the toxins in the trash.

Balentine would like to remind residents to utilize town hazardous materials disposal days and to never put dangerous chemicals in trash bags to be picked up by Waste Management.